Empathy
by Field Empathy
Summary: This story sort of "bridges the gaps" in between episodes with a few family-centric plot lines sort of leading up to their being a family. Working with the romantic pairngs. Also, I'm introducing a new heroine, one of my own creation. Opens with Spitfire.
1. Prologue

** This one is Spitfire (and a new heroine of my own creation). It's a fun topic. First. Story. Ever.**

**Hope you like it! Please leave at least a little constructive criticism if you decide to review. I don't own Young Justice. **

**Setting: Everything takes place after "Insecurities"**

Empathy

Prologue:

_Almost every time, it turns into a fight, even when it's not supposed to. _Artemis complained to no one in particular. Her teammates were all silent on the other end, except Kaldur.

_Focus on disabling your opponents so we will be able to salvage this mission, _he advised her, occupied with his own fight. Artemis returned her full attention to her opponents, dodging their knife slashes gracefully. The trick arrows had worked. Their weapons were a smoking ruin. Wally and Robin were safe, no longer being targeted by the guards of the building.

Unfortunately, Kaldur, Red Arrow, Zatanna, and Conner were now being attacked, leaving M'gann to retrieve the information as best she could in camouflage, Robin and Wally attempting to catch up to her and access the computer.

A lucky slash with a knife. "_Ow_." Artemis hissed, trying to deal with the injury as quickly as possible. Her opponent was bolder now, making confident (and non effective) stabs. He lunged, opening up a vulnerable area. She landed a vicious kick, and controlled the fight from there, finishing them off as quickly as possible. _Those jerks had it coming, _She thought triumphantly, switching gloves to stanch the bleeding. Telepathic silence, broken by M'gann. _We have what we came for. Let's go._

...

"Of all the moves to make, that was the most idiotic." Red Arrow was still holding a grudge against her. "It was a _recon_ mission! You don't blow things up!"

"What was I supposed to do? Let them get shot? They were being targeted!" Artemis retorted, indignantly.

"My _point _was, use a different arrow. And think_ before_ you shoot."

"Or were you just trying to play hero again?" Wally's voice was bitter, hurt.

"Batman could have predicted a fight! Maybe that's why we all had to go! I was just trying to do the right thing!" Artemis shouted, tears making tiny pinpricks, threatening to spill. She looked down so the others couldn't see them. "That's what _friends _do," glaring at Red Arrow, "unless I don't have any here."

_"Recognized, Artemis, B07" _She was gone.

"Nice going, you guys." Robin walked in.

"I was just giving her some pointers."

"Could've fooled me."

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Roy whirled to face Wally, his expression demanding an answer. Wally shrugged.

"Yeah, Wally. If I didn't know better, I would say you're trying to protect her." Robin teased.

"Quit playing matchmaker." he moaned.

"Oh, so you DO like her!" Robin cried, triumphant.

"Wait, What-? No!" Wally stuttered, his face reddening. "I mean, I like her, as a friend, but I don't, you know, _like_ like her."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes. You. So. Do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Maybe I do! _So what?_"

"You can't trust her." Red Arrow's demeanor was serious. "She _is _the most likely person to be a mole, given her history."

"I don't know, Roy. What are you hiding?" Wally's voice went quiet.

"Whether she knows it or not, she's the only person who could be the mole. She's hiding something, and I for one don't trust her." Red Arrow snapped, ignoring Wally's question.

"I think we can, regardless of what she's hiding. She's just a little whelmed right now." Robin piped up.

"It doesn't matter what you two think, _I'm _going to find answers."

_"Recognized, Red Arrow, B06."_

"Just talk to her."

"I don't know, Rob."

...

Artemis dropped her bow and quiver and collapsed on her bed, letting all her tears come, fighting not to make any noise. If her mom heard, then she would have yet another conversation about if the team was really the right place for her, should she take a break, should she quit. _Never_, Artemis thought. _I will not give up on myself. _

She cried herself into a restless sleep, still in costume, her dreams clouded and sorrowful.


	2. Poison

**Okay. Round 2. **

**Here goes. This is still after Insecurities, but before Performance. Keep that in mind. I enjoy all forms of commentary.**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

Empathy

Wally woke up ten minutes later than usual. You couldn't really blame him; there had been another late night mission. His mom was yelling.

"Wally! I've been calling you for five minutes! You're going to be late!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" he moaned. "Geez Mom, I have super speed! It doesn't matter if I miss the bus just once!" He raced down the stairs he knew by heart, grabbing a box of cereal as he entered the kitchen, blowing by his mother as she was pouring herself a cup of coffee.

As soon as he began to eat, Artemis entered his thoughts again. For almost a week she had avoided everyone, only coming down to the mountain for the last few missions. She hadn't argued, or trained, or even talked to him; and that withdrawal was only more proof that he had feelings for her. He sighed. He wished that she would talk to him again so he could...kiss her? Just be her friend again? Ask her out?

...

Conner and M'gann were at school already, in homeroom.

_Do you think it's true? _M'gann asked Conner.

_What? _Asked Conner, preoccupied with the little red shields he now carried around in his pocket, just in case. He had been fingering the case, having conflicting emotions. And a constant reminder of Lex Luthor.

_What Robin said about Wally and Artemis, silly. _M'gann chided. _Do you think it's true?_

_Oh. That._ He thought, a small smile on his face. _I think so. I mean, they have nicknames and everything. _

_Should we have special nicknames for each other?_ She sounded a bit hopeful.

_Uh, I guess. But- _

_But... _she prompted him.

_Don't we already have special names for each other? You gave me my name. I'm the only one who ever calls you M'gann. We have pet names. _

_Oh. _M'gann was speechless, blushing. Conner could sense the smile in her thoughts.

...

Roy had stopped by for a visit to the mountain, mostly to see Kaldur.

"Hey."

"Hello."

"Bored?"

"I can keep myself occupied."

There was an awkward pause.

"Ever think of going to school here? On land?"

"I have. I'm not sure. It would be hard to start over like that."

Roy shrugged. "Well, it's happened before. You wouldn't be the first."

...

Zatanna had a pleasant surprise waiting for her. Robin was there, in the hallway, leaning against the wall like he'd been there forever. But she knew that he'd only appeared a minute ago. He was wearing a school uniform; his hair was combed back, his jacket slung over his shoulder. His glasses still concealed his identity.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, a grin crossing her face.

"Just checking up on you. How's it going?"

"Good," She replied, her heart skipping a beat, "but shouldn't you be going to school?"

"Hey, that's what zeta tubes are for." Robin assured her. "I have a good ten minutes before I _really _have to go."

...

"Artemis, _get up_! You're going to be late!"

Artemis let out a stifled moan into her pillow, mentally pointing out that she hadn't been late to school _once _since she was six. She tried to get up, testing her injured arm. Despite disinfecting it and dressing it, the cut had simply refused to scab over. She knew she should take care of it again. Then she looked at the clock and realized why her mom had been yelling.

"Oh, _crap._" She was probably going to be late, even if she didn't tend to the gash in her arm. So much for a good morning.

...

Artemis leaned her head against her locker; enjoying the relief and feeling herself shiver as her skin came into contact with the icy metal. It felt like the heating was broken, if one ignored the fact that the weather was about seventy degrees (F°). But her exhaustion was worse than feeling cold. Much, much worse. She thought she had fallen asleep in class a few times, but wasn't sure. Her brain was too mixed up.

"Planning on taking a nap?" Her eyes snapped open.

"As tempting as that sounds, no." She managed a weak smile. "I'm not _that_ tired."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm okay." Dick Grayson was watching her with a mix of curiosity and concern as she departed, trying to figure out why Artemis, of all people, had been using her locker as a pillow.

...

Wally's phone buzzed, causing an accidental juice spill all over his counter. It was a text from Dick.

_Look out for Artemis. We all know you care about her._

He did not reply to any of Wally's furious texts. Sometimes he hated that kid.

...

Artemis's communicator went off.

_Report to Mount Justice for mission briefing. _She let out a heavy sigh. So much for getting a good night's sleep. She would be lucky if she got five hours. Regardless, she diligently suited up, glad that her glove was able to completely cover up her injury, as well as providing relief. The swelling had gotten worse, and the glove's pressure would be able to help her function better, albeit only a tiny bit.

_"Recognized, Artemis, B07."_

"You're late." Artemis cringed at Batman's comment, feeling her face redden.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"Care to give any reasons why?" There was genuine concern. Distant, but there. She almost opened up. Almost.

"No. I was just a little slow to get ready." She could tell that no one in that room was buying it, she was stubbornly _never _late, but was just as unwilling to divulge her real reasons. Just like the trackers. Great. She had unwittingly betrayed their trust even more.

"There is suspicious activity in the warehouse you infiltrated last week. We've concluded that someone is trying to salvage something that was left behind from your previous intervention. Keep watch until you see activity. Prevent anything from being reclaimed. Stay hidden until the last possible moment. The element of surprise will be the greatest advantage you have. Call the Justice League if it gets out of hand."

"Wait. We actually get to fight? Awesome!" Artemis face palmed. Wally was one of the few people brave (or stupid) enough to have an outburst like that in front of Batman. You couldn't really blame him, though. He had a natural instinct to attempt to lighten any situation. Artemis mentally scolded herself for admiring Wally's attributes, at least when the situation was so serious.

"Let's go." Conner had been restless throughout briefing, craving some action. The team filed into the bioship.

...

It started as a feeling of apprehension. One that eased Amber out of a deep sleep, leaving her to stare wide-eyed at the ceiling. Then it became worse, compelling her to sweeping off the covers in one deft move and begin pacing. She had felt it on the day of the shooting, but now it was much stronger, much more insistent. Her own pain had clouded her, made her more oblivious. Now it was all she could do to keep from screaming.

Three weeks and the tables had turned completely. She knew she could help... whoever it was. If she could just get in range. She slipped her clothes on and slid out her window onto the roof. She walked the twenty feet to her pine tree, using the branches as a ladder and dismounting from about seven feet up. With one nervous glance at her parents' bedroom window; she hopped her fence, knowing to go in the direction of the old warehouse that no one was supposed to use.

...

Robin and Wally glanced over at Artemis, who was close to falling asleep. She was leaning back against the chair, supporting her head as much as possible. It was obvious by her look of concentration that she was determined not to fall asleep.

"Dude, how long has she been like that?"

"She was like that at school today, but she's been practically nonexistent for the past week, so I'm not sure." Robin was confused. "It's probably nothing," He added quickly. "She's pretty good about taking care of herself." This was more for Wally's benefit. "Just have her back. She's obviously off her game."

"Why are you telling me this?" Wally was trying to sound confused, but it was obvious that he understood already. He was just making sure.

"Give it up, KF. You two are the next Miss Martian and Superboy." Robin was smirking, just daring Wally to prove him wrong. Wally wished they were sparring at the moment, so he would have an excuse to tackle the Boy Wonder.

"It's not like that! I-" Wally felt himself going beyond the whispers that they intended the conversation to be. He quickly glanced over at Superboy, making sure that he wasn't listening in. Not now, but he should probably drop it. His face was reddening, but he wouldn't admit defeat. "Next time, Rob, I _will_ get you for this."

"Sure." His laugh echoed in the quiet bioship.

...

Crouching, waiting was _hell_. She couldn't stand anymore. She had to sit down. Leaning back against a wall, she could feel herself uncoil, no longer struggling with gravity. Her entire body was shaking, and she was _freezing. _While sitting in the bioship she had been able to keep up the charade of well-being. Now, just the exertion of crouching on the ground for _five minutes_ was finally getting to her. A cold sweat had broken out on her forehead and her palms. Awesome. Now she was going to have problems shooting.

_Artemis._ M'gann's voice rang in her head. _We're on. _ Artemis got shakily to her feet, leaning against the wall until the dizziness passed.

_Okay. _It took all her willpower not to show her weariness.

...

Amber's heart was racing. _Running out of time...I can make it._ She ignored the throbbing of her chest, thinking, _it'll heal. It's just soreness at this point._

He was running. Much faster then he should have been able to go. He was carrying someone.

Someone else was waiting to strike from their hiding place.

...

The first few minutes of the fight was pure adrenaline.

Artemis shot arrow after arrow, but she was slow, and everyone knew it. Wally kept glancing back at her, helping her out and doing more than his fair share fighting. Worry was painted all over his face. _Artemis, are you okay? _

She was coming off her rush, about to literally pass out. _I'll be fine, Wally. _

_You don't look fine. _

_Lay off, Baywatch, _She snapped, but her pain and weariness took the edge off her voice. _I can take care of myself. _As she said it, she dropped to one knee, biting her lip to get rid of the sudden wave of dizziness. _No! We're on a mission! Stay awake! _She tried to tell herself, focusing on remaining conscious. She was _still_ freezing, but now it felt like she was too warm at the same time. Of course, every last person on the team noticed.

_Artemis! What are you doing? What's wrong? Tell me! _Wally.

_Need some help? _Robin.

_Why didn't you tell us? You can't be expected to go on missions if you can't fight. _Kaldur.

_Are you sick? _Zatanna.

_Are you hurt? _M'gann.

_Whatever. This had better not be an act. _Roy.

_Should I carry her out? I already took care of who I needed to. _Superboy.

_No. I'll do it. _Wally. _Try not to bit my head off before I get there, beautiful. _It wasn't anywhere near as lighthearted as he wanted to be, but he was trying.

Artemis, simply relieved that someone was coming to get her, slipped into helplessness as the last of her strength faded away. She closed her eyes, resting against the wall.

...

She suddenly understood the reason for her nervousness. The girl in his arms. But she was still too far away. She called out, trying to warn them, to no avail. They couldn't hear her.

She willed for them to be safe.

A strangled cry escaped her throat as golden light exploded in front of her eyes. She got down on her knees, gasping. "Stupid empathy," Amber muttered to herself, not really meaning it. Her hands were still held out, trembling slightly. She lowered them, trying to rise. As her muscles tensed up, a wave of pain washed over her. A warm area was spreading just under her rib cage. She knew that she was bleeding. "Well, _that's_ new." She walked painfully over to a tree, sliding down to lean against it, propping herself up.

_Now, how am I going to get back?_

...

Artemis didn't open her eyes until she felt Wally shaking her. She looked up at him. _Can you stand? _He asked her, more concerned than ever.

_I don't know, _She told him, tears pricking her eyes as she got a sense of how helpless she was. _I'm sorry. _

_KF, get out of there with Artemis. The league's coming, _Kaldur relayed to them.

"Hold on." He scooped her up, bridal style, and raced out of the building.

She stared up at him, wide-eyed, somewhat dazed. She felt like a little kid again, clinging on with complete trust. He noticed her and glanced down.

"You okay?" She nodded mutely, trying to shift herself so she wouldn't have to hang on to his arm so tightly. He automatically steadied her. "Stay still," he murmured. His gaze shifted to their surroundings, and he suddenly tensed up. _Crap!_

_What's going on? _Kaldur asked. _You should be at the bioship by now. _

_I know, I know, _he shot back. _There was fighting the way we came in, so I took a detour, and there's someone hiding out here too, and oh GOD he's aiming for us with a gun!_

In a precious few seconds, he had weighed his options. He couldn't protect himself. With Artemis in his arms, he couldn't attack, dodge, or anything, not without putting her in danger.

All he could do was turn his back to try and protect Artemis (he would later tell himself that since his suit was more bulletproof, it was the most logical decision) and sprint faster. He felt Artemis tighten her grip on him. Now he was really afraid. Even in Bialya, she hadn't appeared this frightened. It was too late. He hugged her close to his chest and braced himself for impact.

It never came.


	3. Peril

**So, thank you very, very, very, much to the people who already put me on their favorites or alerts when I'm only two chapters in. **

**Second, I'm playing a game with you called... guess what happens next! (Okay, I know, not incredibly original) I always hint on something that's coming in the next chapter, through shadowy details and the chapter title. And you have to figure out what is going on inside my head! It gets easier as you get more acquainted with the plot and my writing style. But for now, everyone will probably be thinking something along the lines of, "Okay... I don't get it."**

**I bet I really threw you for a loop with that last chapter! Especially with the title! Sorry for confusing everyone with my odd sense of humor and/or my writing style.**

**I also apologize for the long wait.**

**I do not own Young Justice; and any similarity between my character and any persons living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. I will be unhappy if you try to press charges anyway. **

**Now, on to what you came for!**

**Still taking place between Insecurities and Performance.**

Empathy

Someone was shaking her. "Hey, you need to tell us your name so we can help you." Amber's eyes snapped open.

"And why should I trust you with my name? My parents are going to be mad enough _before_ I get dragged to the hospital!"

"Wait, back up. Why do you need medical attention?"

"I don't." Amber tried to get up and walk away, but was intercepted by Robin.

"Okay, what would make us think you need medical attention?"

She sighed. "This." She unzipped her dark, thin sweatshirt to reveal a large, obvious blood stain on her pale blue tee shirt, spreading out from just below her ribcage. "I just reopened the one thing I got two weeks ago, I guess." She shrugged.

"The other pressing matter is: why were you sitting next to our ship?" interjected Kaldur.

"I didn't try to! I was going to the warehouse where you were fighting! Someone near here is sick and injured and I thought I could _help_! She's blond and wearing green, and last I saw her, she was being carried by Kid Flash!"

...

The impact never came. Instead a semi translucent, dark gold glow exploded behind Wally and Artemis. _Did you see that?_

_See what?_

_That- whatever it was. All I saw was gold light._

_Zatanna, did you do that? _Robin asked.

_I didn't say anything, _she responded, just as perplexed as Wally.

_Artemis, did you see anything?_

_I-I don't think so. Wally was blocking my vision._

Megan stopped dead. _There's someone else here. They're right next to the bioship. And here for a reason._

_We'll be there in another few seconds, _Wally said; as he came into view. _Don't let them get away._

...

"Uh, does Batman know about this one?" Wally had laid Artemis down in the bioship on a makeshift bed, and Zatanna was sitting with her to keep her company. The rest of the team had surrounded Amber, who was behaving as if she talked to superheroes all the time.

"Probably not. I haven't used my abilities for anything yet. But now that I have, I'm one-hundred percent certain he will know within the next six hours."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Wally moaned.

"But you were talking _about_ me." Amber retorted, "Which kind of makes it okay for me to respond." She was standing up, leaning against a tree rather casually. She had intelligent, dark green-brown eyes with angled eyebrows. Her golden-brown ponytail reached the middle of her back, and a few strands framed her face. Her sweatshirt was still unzipped, revealing the bloodstain. Oddly enough, it appeared to have stopped bleeding already, which should have been impossible.

Wally was getting impatient. _Can we PLEASE get out of here? The Justice League is here, Artemis is sick, or SOMETHING, and face it, the longer we stay here; the more likely it is that someone will find us! _

_But this girl knew about Artemis. She is either a very good spy or has some kind of psychic abilities. And you don't simply walk around in the middle of the night bleeding._

_Kaldur's right. We have to figure out who she is and why she's here. _M'gann said. _Should I read her mind?_

_Do it, _Conner said.

_We have no choice. _Kaldur added.

_Got it. _She began to investigate.

_Now what? _Amber wondered, beginning to acquaint herself with telepathy, tentatively exploring M'gann's presence. _Can I try something?_

_No._

_It's my story. I want to tell it. _

_This will be a lot easier if you stop distracting me. _

_Please, _she implored.

_NO._

Amber relaxed, opening up her memories. In the images flashing through her mind, M'gann saw the early glimmers of her abilities, the beginnings of her power, the shooting, the hospital visits, and the force field that had saved the lives of Kid Flash and Artemis. She could not find any hostility towards the team; in fact, the only memories that existed of the team were from less than an hour ago.

"She's telling the truth." M'gann reported. "But she is insistent on seeing Artemis. She believes that she can help."

"Is that a good idea? We can't just let her on the bioship." Roy said.

"Relax, Roy. No one ever said she was going on the bioship." Wally cut in.

Amber sighed. "Is it okay if I try from here?" Then, not waiting for an answer, she turned to face the bioship. She slowly lifted her hand, as if reaching for something. She closed her eyes and shuddered. It was silent for a minute, and none of teenagers present dared break it, completely bewildered at the turn of events. Her hand slowly began to glow with the same golden light as her force field.

Then a moan cut through the quiet. Amber put her free hand to her abdomen, trying very hard not to double over. The light began to fade out. _No no no no no, _Amber begged herself, _not now_. She forced herself to remain standing. The light flared, and then faded entirely as Amber collapsed to the ground, gasping. "I-I…can't … heal… her." She choked out between labored breaths. Tears were leaking out of her tightly closed eyes and were running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry." She was obviously bleeding again.  
>"Hey, stay with us." Robin said.<br>"I am 'with you'. Just because my eyes are closed doesn't mean I'm out. It hurts too much for me to be out." Opening her eyes, she saw the shocked and confused expressions of the team. "Fine," she rolled her eyes, slowly maneuvering onto her back and bending her knees so the blood would go to her head. "Happy?"  
>"Um…" M'gann said.<br>"The girl that I was talking about, who I'm _guessing_ is Artemis, has blood poisoning. Fever just started too, approximately one-o-one point five and climbing. She's become dehydrated; you'll want to hook her up to an IV pretty soon. She's stable for now, but that's only temporary. She's going to experience the beginnings of organ failure. She'll need antibiotics and blood pressure medication. Also, there is a six inch cut on her left arm, been there for about a week, it got infected about two days later and is the _cause _of the blood poisoning. That needs to be taken care of. Don't ask me how I know, I just _do._"  
>"Let's go then." Wally urged his teammates.<p>

"What about _her_?" Roy pointed out.

"True. Batman has to know about her."

"Okay. My name's Amber Cavell. I'll live. See you in about six months." She knew that she would probably be forced to the hospital. Her parents were going to _kill _her.

...

Wally raced out of the debriefing room to go see Artemis. He had almost exploded waiting for debriefing to be over. He burst into the medical wing, skidding to a stop, searching around for Artemis as if she had disappeared into thin air. _There! _He walked into the room. There was no sound except for the soft, quiet beeping of the heart monitor.  
>And her breathing.<br>It was so rhythmic.

Wally, moving as if he was walking on eggshells, made his way to Artemis's beside and sat down in the chair next to it. He watched her chest rise and fall, rise and fall, over and over again. For the longest time, he just listened and watched, completely mesmerized. _This is the first time she's actually been asleep in front of me. _Just watching her made him feel at peace.

Her hair had been taken out of her ponytail. A soft gold curtain was splayed out under her. She had been changed into a hospital gown; Wally could imagine her demanding to be changed into "something _normal_" as soon as she could sit up.

He grinned in spite of himself. _Spitfire..._He sighed. Right now, she was sick. Really sick. He wasn't good with bedside vigils. They made him nervous. His gaze shifted to the window, the IV bag, the power outlet, the light switch, _anything _besides Artemis. He wished that he was the one in the bed, without really knowing why. He also wished that he had something to eat.

But he just didn't want to move.

_Hey Megan?_ He asked.  
><em>Yeah?<em>  
><em>Is it okay if we have breakfast here? I don't feel like going home.<em>  
>M'gann became immediately excited. <em>Great idea! I've wanted to have a family dinner for a while. I'll tell the others! <em>She broke the mind link and rushed off to tell everyone else, already contemplating on what to make.

...

A few minutes later, Artemis began to stir. She didn't open her eyes. Not yet. She was just going to listen.  
>She heard someone else in the room. And the beeping of the heart monitor. She felt the IV needle in her arm, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. She just felt worse. And she wanted something to drink. Sort of. She knew that she needed water but didn't really want to expend the energy to drink it. She licked her lips and winced. They were dry and cracked from dehydration.<br>"Artemis?" Wally asked tentatively. "You awake?"  
>She nodded, slowly opening clouded gray eyes. "How long have I been asleep?"<br>"About six hours. It's morning now. Batman called your mom and told her what was going on about an hour ago."  
>Instead of replying she turned over to face him, lying on her side. She was debating with herself on whether to ask him for water or not. He answered her question for her.<br>"Do you want anything? Megan made pancakes, and-"  
>She cut him off. "I don't want to eat anything right now, I'm just thirsty."<br>"So you want water?"  
>She nodded.<br>Wally zipped out of the room, returning with a glass of water. He placed it down carefully, then ran out again and returned with two plates of pancakes, one with just two, and the other with about six. He raced out yet again, grabbing two forks and the syrup bottle, ignoring the indignant "Hey!" and the exasperated "_Wally!_" as he made a quick exit.  
>He managed to fit it all on the small bedside table (somehow), and began eating.<br>"What was that for?" Artemis demanded, admittedly less intimidating while lying down.  
>"Um… Breakfast?" Came the muffled reply, his mouth still full. He swallowed and continued, "I haven't eaten in over twelve hours, and I'm <em>starving. <em>In my defense, that's a bit of a long time for _anyone, _not just me, and that's _without _using the energy required to fight a bunch of bad guys with guns and knives."  
>"You know what I meant," she half moaned. "Why did you bring <em>me <em>breakfast?"  
>He blushed. "Um, because I thought you might be hungry later, and Megan's pancakes are getting a lot better, and because everyone was eating them all and I wanted to be fair..." He trailed off, because they both knew that that last excuse was a blatant lie. There was never a day when M'gann wasn't willing to cook for her friends, and Wally was always the one to eat just about everything. His blush intensified. "...Never mind." He returned to his pancakes.<br>Artemis shook her head slightly and made to sit up, wincing slightly at her newly bandaged arm. She remembered Black Canary encouraging her, "sit up for just a few minutes, hold out your left arm, stay with me, Artemis, you can go to sleep later." She felt more awake now. She must be getting better. So she should be able to sit up and drink a glass of water. _Stupid blankets..._ she thought to herself, struggling with the suddenly heavy material. Wally, noticing her losing battle with the hospital bedding, was at her side immediately, his plate and fork clattering even as his right arm slid under her back, gently lifting her, his left arm sliding over her stomach for support. She blushed fiercely, feeling her face become even hotter.

And it was just in time for Robin and Zatanna to run in on a mission to reclaim the syrup bottle that had been stolen from the breakfast table a few minutes before.

Wally felt Artemis tense up again, like when the sniper had been aiming at them, and he whirled around to see Robin carefully lifting the syrup bottle off the table with no indication of how he had gotten there in the first place; he and Zatanna were desperately trying to not bust out laughing for the sake of reclaiming the syrup bottle and preserving what remained of their teammates' dignity.

But upon seeing Wally's shocked face and Artemis's plain embarrassment; they cracked at almost the exact same time and dissolved into a fit of hysterical laughter. They beat a hasty retreat, taking the syrup bottle with them.

"S-sorry." Wally offered.


	4. Whetstone

**This is fun. If you noticed my sneaky writing, yes, I'm trying to make you like Amber. No, you won't find out _exactly _what her powers are. Yet. Yes, Wally and Artemis will have a few more moments in this chapter. **

**I do not own Young Justice. I do, however, own _my _character.**

**This is going to sound creepy, but her powers are based off of dreams I've had (and still have) since I was four.**

**...**

**On with the story!**

**Still after Insecurities.**

Empathy

"What were you _thinking?_" Amber swore every person in the corridor had stopped what he or she was doing to stare at her. "Less than two weeks ago you nearly _died _from a gunshot wound that punctured a major artery! It was a _stretch_ to release you then! And on the first night home, you blatantly disregard your instructions of proper bed rest and limiting your physical activity; and go out for a _run _at twelve-thirty at night?"

Amber just stared sullenly. She would've laughed if it was not for the murderous looks her parents and the doctor were giving her.

"Amber?" her mother prompted.

"Yes."

"Care to explain _why_?"

"I was bored of being on bed rest. I had a lot of energy."

"Energy that you should have been using to _heal_! Now, not only did you slow your recovery, you reversed it! You lost half a pint of blood!"

"So?" Amber didn't see why he was making such a big deal about it. "I was fine. I was always in stable condition. All that happened was I lost some blood. And it hurt, but there's no harm done."

The doctor rubbed his temples. "Amber, you need to take better care of yourself. You won't always be this lucky." He was referring to the fact that she had somehow survived being shot in a potentially fatal area.

They were scared of her, the way she just kept trying to move, as if she was willing to die for the sake of strangers. They had tried to stop her, make her fear for her life. It had made her fall, and suffer, but she didn't care.

Amber wasn't afraid of dying.

She was also pretty sure that the only reason she wasn't dead _yet_ was the fact that she took care of herself for her family's sake.

There was something else keeping her alive.

She was waiting for the right time to die. She couldn't just commit suicide, or succumb to a simple illness or injury. All that she would fight. Maybe she would die old, leaving behind children she hoped were willing to fight for a good cause. But if she could choose, she would die a warrior's death. One of self-sacrifice. It was morbid, she knew. But she figured that the really important people were not the heroes, but the ones who did the small, profound things. They were the ones worth protecting, the ones the Justice League and armed forces fought for. They were the only reason that anyone found it worth living.

Amber sighed. She blamed the bed rest. It gave her too much time to think.

...

Artemis could feel herself struggling with the glass of water. She _hated _feeling weak. Wally wanted desperately to help; she was pale and shaking from the sheer exertion of sitting up and putting the glass to her lips. She managed a few sips before she had to crash back down to the pillows, exhausted. Unfortunately, her arms failed her as well and the glass tipped and fell, rolling off her lap to the side as she gasped from the shock and tried to sit up, reaching to put the glass back.

True to his namesake, Wally grabbed the glass, forced her back down (gently), and grabbed another blanket and a towel. He handed her the towel first. She gave him her best death glare, but it is incredibly difficult to strike fear in another when you are lying down and shivering.

Behaving incredibly calmly, he rummaged through the medical supplies and pulled out a thermometer. He stuck it in her mouth as she opened it to object. "Keep it there."

"_Nothing _is wrong with me. You don't need to stick a thermometer in my mouth."

"Are you really that stubborn?"

She didn't reply until the thermometer beeped loudly and she pulled it out. "There. Happy?"

He glanced at it and paled. "_Nothing? _One-o-four point six is _not _okay!" He ran out of the room, leaving Artemis to curl up under the extra blanket. He soon returned, practically dragging Black Canary behind him. "...and she won't let me help her."

"I didn't say that!" She called out from under the blankets.

"You just did! You don't have to be so independent! You're part of a _team! _We're supposed to help you! Let me help you!" he implored. Artemis was shocked to see that Wally was almost-_almost_-_crying_. His eyes were rimmed by tears; tears that his pride and hormones forbade from falling. He realized what he had said and instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry," he said, somehow wishing that Batman would turn up with another mission so he could have a good excuse to escape. "I'm just... really tired and I haven't really eaten anything and-"

"Wally." He paused and stared at Black Canary.

"When's the last time you slept?"

He looked sheepish. "Last night."

"How long?"

"We had a mission, so about four hours."

"Go to sleep. I have it covered." He left, knowing that Black Canary was in den mother mode. Not really feeling like going home, he crashed on the couch, oblivious to Superboy, M'gann, and Robin; who happened to be watching Saturday morning cartoons.

...

"Do you want to play video games?"

"No" Wally responded brokenly. "I don't feel like it, Rob."

He raised his eyebrows over his sunglasses. "Really? What's gotten into you?" He already knew, he was just seeing if Wally would give him a straight answer.

"I'm kind of worried about Artemis. I mean, no one's ever gotten sick like this before."

"We've all had our fair share of illness, KF. Just not so much as of late." He shrugged. "This is part of life, superhero or not."

"I'm going to go check up on her again..." He walked at a normal pace down the hallway, for once.

...

The Dark Night had come to, um... interview Amber.

"Can I ask what's going on?" She knew immediately that this was about her actions two nights previous. Her parents did not act surprised at all, she supposed that Batman had contacted them earlier.

"It's the duty of the Justice League to monitor any vigilante with super powers or exceptional abilities, especially minors. You have no mentor, which puts you at an even greater risk. We want to know what you are capable of and help you learn to control and use it."

"So... do I have a choice?"

"No, Amber, it's entirely your choice whether or not you continue with the Justice League after today," her dad assured her. "As long as this doesn't further affect your schoolwork."

"I'd like to give this a try." She responded immediately. There was a strong desire to help others, one that had only grown stronger in light of recent events. Also? She felt useless if she just ignored the power she had command of.

Batman nodded. "We will contact you later this week, after you're discharged."

Amber sighed heavily and returned to her book. Her parents had banned her from using her powers until next week.

...

"Really? Awesome!"

Dick was excited for a new team member. Of course, in his free time he had done some research on Amber via the Internet; and hacked the computer systems of the Batcave and the Justice League for good measure.

Bruce gave him a knowing smile. "Not anything with missions too soon."

"But she's a martial arts _prodigy._ And she'd have us."

"Just because you were ready to fight crime at a young age doesn't mean she is. She's never experienced trauma and cruelty of this magnitude before. Training is never the same as fighting. We have to make sure she's ready."

"She's fought for real three times before."

"And two of those times landed her in the hospital. With a track record like that, she would be forced to retire within a year," Bruce countered, careful not to say _dead_, even now.

"Okay, fair point, but both times she was technically taking a bullet for someone else."

"She needs to learn to subdue before that ever happens. While I'm sure that's something she is fully capable of, she hasn't learned it yet."

"The first time she was doing bare hand-to-hand combat, against two guys with guns, trying to protect a bunch of teenagers who were cowering in a corner. The _second _time she just reopened that wound, it hadn't fully healed, considering it was two weeks later."

"That's one thing that doesn't add up. It was a nearly fatal injury, with a lot of blood loss. She shouldn't be able to go out and fight."

"I think its part of her abilities. She was trying to heal Artemis, and it seemed like she knew what she was doing. She also should have passed out from blood loss with the injury she had, that didn't happen."

"And you also noticed that she began to bleed more heavily when she attempted to heal Artemis, assuming that her intentions were good, and I believe they were; that using her powers puts physical strain on her body and may even reverse healing on herself."

"Master Bruce and Master Richard."

"Yeah Alfred?" Dick looked up from the wristwatch computer where had pulled up Amber's file.

"No computers at the dinner table."

Both Bruce and Dick guiltily switched them off before returning their full attention to their dinner.

...

"_Recognized, Robin, B01."_

"Guys?" he called out. "Anyone home?" He watched a panicked Wally run into the main room, his face pale.

"Where's Black Canary?" He asked, glancing around nervously, vibrating in place.

"I didn't see her..." Robin replied, checking the mountain's computer. "Where's everyone else?"

"Not here. Mall." he blurted. "Is Red Tornado here?"

Robin shook his head. "Red and BC are both on away league missions."

"Great, just _great._" He hissed. "Dude, you gotta help me. It's Artemis. I don't know what to do. Come on." Wally raced into the medical ward, with Robin sprinting behind him.

Even though he had guessed what might have been going on, what he saw was still terrible. Artemis was thrashing around, fighting an unseen enemy, her breathing shallow and irregular. A low moan suddenly escaped her.

"Whoa. Take her temperature."

"Do you know what's wrong?" Wally was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

"It's probably hyperpyrexia. The only way to be sure is to-" he was cut off by another painful moan, as if someone was literally ripping Artemis apart.

"Stop! _Stop!_" Her speech was slurred, but the meaning was clear enough.

"There's no _time_ to make sure! What do we do?"

"We need to bring her fever down! She's hallucinating!" Robin motioned for the washcloth and bowl of water on the table. Wally understood immediately, and grabbing the washcloth, dipped it in water and placed it across Artemis's forehead before moving it down to her neck.

...

Artemis cringed at the cold water; it felt like icy needles were piercing her, and it made everything hurt more. Was she drowning? It didn't feel like it, but what else could it be? She couldn't breathe. _I want to breathe! I want to breathe! _Her own panicked thoughts collided; in her crashing sea of emotions, the only thing that she could pick out was fear. _"And fear makes you weak."_

"NO!" Artemis began fighting against Wally, her arms flailing out to push him away, fight against… who? Who was she fighting? Could she beat them?

_I'm scared. I'm so scared. _But she had ever felt so alone. No one liked her; they weren't there, and she wished so much they were. "I'm scared. No, no, no. Leave me alone." Her voice was cracked, she choked back sobs. Tears that no one had seen for years escaped her now, her control lost to the fever that was threatening to shut down her vital organs.

"I'll call the others. You get her calmed down and try to lower her temperature."

Wally nodded a different kind of panic settling in after Dick left the room. He was an only child; he had never taken care of anyone when they were sick.

Instinctively he thought: _What would my family do? _Even though he would like to ignore it, he was the baby of the family; _everyone _would take care of him when he was hurt or under the weather. (As much as it shamed him afterward)

Then, tentatively, he reached out, slowly pulling her into a hug. His heart was pounding a million miles per hour, but his movements remained calm and steady. "Artemis... It's going to be okay. No one's going to hurt you now. Got it?"

The revelation dawned on her slowly. _Wally's here. _She was scared, and relieved that someone familiar to her had come.

There was something about the hug that made her last defenses go down. Silent sobs racked her entire body, and her tears leaked onto his shirt. He held her, afraid to let go, as if she would shatter and fall into a million pieces.

On a whim, Wally began to stroke her hair. It was instinct, a gesture of absolute caring. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her shaking frame. Just like Bialya, he allowed himself to forget what had come before.

He gently rested his head on hers and felt her hair, limp from sweat but still silky soft. His heart was doing double time. He heard the zeta tubes announce the team's arrival; and thinking that she was asleep, Wally made to move off of the bed and into the chair next to it, remembering that her fever had to be brought down.

"Stay?" Wally flinched at her voice, wracked with fatigue.

"Uh..." He replied, a little frozen. Suddenly noticing that she was still much too warm, he shifted her weight onto his chest, careful of the IV, and passed the washcloth over her forehead, then down to the back of her neck, not caring that the front of his shirt was now completely damp. "Okay, but just for a little longer. I can't go to sleep here again, my parents will kill me."

"Okay." Artemis rested against him, gratefully accepting the care he was giving her. No one had been this gentle with her for such a long time. She savored it, because she knew that even though he was being nice to her, it was just because he felt sorry for her, not for anything else, and as soon as the whole thing was over, he'd go right back to being mad and disappointed with her.

But she was too tired to think anymore, and let herself be lulled to sleep by his calm presence and her team making small talk with each other.

...

"You think she's asleep?" Zatanna glanced at Artemis, who hadn't moved since they had arrived.

"Yeah." Wally shifted Artemis's weight onto his left leg.

"Well?" Conner said expectantly. Wally's head jerked up as if he was suddenly aware of what he was doing. A blush slowly spread across his cheeks.

"Well what?" He asked, receiving a incredulous stare in return.

"Are you going to put her down and go home like you said you would?"

Wally sighed, stretching out his little-less-numb-than-before right leg. "I guess..."

"No, wait! You two look _adorable! _I have to find my camera!" M'gann gushed, flying out of the infirmary towards her bedroom.

Wally's face flushed again. Kaldur, sensing his discomfort, gave an encouraging kind of hang-in-there smile and motioned for him to leave. Wally nodded, getting off the bed and gathering his things. He was about to make his escape when M'gann returned with her camera in tow, looking slightly crestfallen.

"Sorry Megs I have to go my parents want me home for dinner bye!" With that, Wally raced toward the zeta tubes, almost slamming into the back of it before the tunnel of light opened and transported him home.

...

_Thump. _Amber vented her frustration on her pillow, narrowly missing the top of her bookshelf. Still frustrated, she tossed the pillow until it almost touched the ceiling, waiting a split second before sweeping her leg, her foot making perfect contact with her target, slamming it into the ground. "Amber! Stop that banging!" Amber growled and muttered something under her breath. Satisfaction from her target practice quickly waning, Amber slipped out of the window onto the old pine. _Her _tree.

Scaling the tree always managed to calm her down. Climbing on something organic, something alive, gave her a sense of harmony. She didn't need ropes or any other safety measures. The bark felt just right under her bare feet. This was the cause of her parent's nickname for her, Nature Girl.

But as of late, it had been different. She could feel everything that was alive, felt more connected than ever to everything around her.

For some reason, she had... abilities. She was born with them, she knew, but for some reason she was becoming stronger. It was strange, yet it belonged just as much as any other part of her. It felt like slow-moving electricity, if that was possible. A warm, glowing, powerful tingle. She could focus it wherever she wanted, or she could spread it out as far as she could imagine.

And despite her parents' request that she _not _do anything before her training with the league started, she had been experimenting with the force fields as soon as she had gotten out of the 24/7 camera monitoring that was the hospital. Just small ones.

They looked exactly like they felt. Warm, glowing, powerful. She wasn't sure, but she _thought _they were unbreakable.

They were like soap bubbles. When she focused, they were there, but as soon as she relinquished her command over them, they quickly weakened and fizzled out. They also had the annoying habit of wanting to stay round. She could turn them into any shape she wanted, but it took more energy and concentration. Round, sphere-like, bubbles of protection came naturally.

But force fields didn't come as naturally as sensing people's pain and discomfort and wanting to help.

And she could help. She could _heal. _


	5. Achilles

**Over 300 visitors to my story! Awesome! (Of course, some of them are people who came back and read the next chapters.)**

**Once again, thank you very much to everyone who put me on their alerts.**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

**Still is after "Insecurities" but before "Performance."**

**...**

Empathy

Kaldur awoke with a start, his heart ready to explode out of his chest. _Another nightmare. _He tried to recall his dream, but could remember nothing except a terrible presence, now retreating into the dark recesses of his mind, inaccessible in wakefulness. He let out a shuddering breath and silently padded down the hallway.

When he got to the training area, he slipped into the salt water lap pool. He wasn't planning on doing anything; he simply let the water comfort him like an old security blanket, indeed, it was the closest thing to one he'd ever had.

But try as he might, he couldn't go back to sleep. As silly as it seemed, he was afraid of the nightmares that always came back to him. Especially in times like now, where everything was on edge and uncertain.

...

"So when are you going to go to your house?"

"Whenever I don't need the IV anymore."

"When would that be?

"Tuesday."

"Oh. Good, I guess." It was Sunday night and Wally had barely taken advantage of his and Robin's extra time spent at the cave. He had only gone on two hour-and-a-half rounds of video games with the boy wonder, instead mostly choosing to sit in the infirmary with Artemis and actually do his homework before ten at night.

Black Canary and Red Tornado had returned shortly after Wally had left. After hearing about Artemis's episode of hyperpyrexia (when someone's body temperature suddenly skyrockets, and can actually lead to a stroke), they had decided to increase the dosage of antibiotics. That had seemed to do the trick. Of course, from what the team had pieced together for Black Canary, her suspicions were confirmed.

"I heard that Amber is going to come in for her first day of training on Thursday."

"Yeah. I wish one of us had her powers. It would have made life a lot easier before."

"No kidding."

"But why doesn't Batman just train her separately for a little while first?"

"Because Batman doesn't have time to, and she's going to be joining the team eventually, so it makes sense to have her train with us."

"I don't know if I want another teammate. I just got used to Zatanna."

In most cases, this is when Artemis and Wally would begin to argue. However, Artemis was still sick and tired, and her usually demeaning tone was reduced to one of mild playfulness.

"And what exactly do you have against new teammates?"

"Nothing!" He defended himself.

"Sure." She murmured. She rolled over to go to sleep. "Night."

Knowing he would get kicked out of the infirmary by Black Canary or Red Tornado if he was still there while she was asleep, he decided to explain himself.

"Do you want to know?"

Artemis didn't move from her spot. "I'm listening."

"I have a hard time trusting people."

"That's understandable. But I never thought you would be that kind of person."

Wally gave a short, nervous laugh, devoid of any humor. "Neither did I."

"You flirt shamelessly with anything female, in both identities. And what about Megan?"

"That doesn't mean I trust just anyone," He countered. "I flirted with her, sure, but I didn't trust her. Not until after a few good missions. Good meaning we almost got ourselves killed in the process."

"That doesn't explain _why_ you would have trouble trusting people."

"Well, you know how I got super speed when I was ten?"

"Yeah..."

"Well I had a best friend then, I won't tell you his name, but we did everything together at school. My parents didn't like him, and never let me have him over. I didn't know why then." He took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then continued, "When I came back to school with superpowers, I had to tell _someone. _This was before my uncle decided to have me as a sidekick, and I thought it would be so cool to have the both of us work together. You know, like having a civilian friend who would watch out for super villains and do all of the computer stuff."

"Sounds like your standard childhood fantasy." Artemis said.

"It might have been. Except when I told him. He agreed to work with me, but said that we needed money for the equipment and stuff. I said we should run a lemonade stand or something-" Artemis suppressed a laugh, knowing that he was being serious "- but he said that we would have to 'borrow' from his parents. In other words, steal it." He paused. "Using my super speed."

"Did you?"

Wally was a _little_ insulted. "No. But I almost did. He threatened to tell everyone that I had powers, since I had already shown him everything."

"Did he?"

"Not really."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He tried to make me 'do my trick' again on the playground in front of his other friends at school. When I didn't, he... punched me in stomach. Hard."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I felt like a complete failure. He tried to make me do it again, too. I might have that time if I already didn't hate his guts for hitting me before. So he beat me up. And I couldn't do anything, because I was afraid of using my super speed, because it was like on a hair trigger at the time."

"So that's why." Artemis had certainly had worse, but still... she wouldn't wish someone like that on anyone- unless they actually deserved it. Wally wasn't one of those people.

...

"Okay, I'm going to start you on the same equipment Zatanna and Miss Martian use. I want to just get a baseline of your abilities." She gestured to a punching bag. "Just show me what you've got."

Amber nodded. She glanced at the bag and shifted her position so she wasn't opposite to Black Canary; left foot pointing forward, right foot turned out behind her, hands in fists up at her face. She gave the bag a good punch with her left hand, then spun backwards on her left foot, lifting her right leg, kicking out with her heel as a she let out a resounding yell, something like a battle cry. She made solid contact, feeling the bag fly away from her. As it began to come down, the chain broke with a loud _crack, _the chains clattering as the bag landed on the ground and rolled slightly towards Kaldur, Zatanna, and Dick.

And Amber stood there in the same manner, right foot out front this time. Her eyes studied everyone in the room with curiosity, but she didn't move.

"Looks like we'll have to move you to the stuff that Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis use." Black Canary commented, her voice filled with wry humor.

Amber only offered a small smile and a quiet "Thanks."

...

"The new girl's really calm. It's like the exact opposite of the rest of the girls."

"I'm sure that Kaldur, Roy, and Conner are glad to finally have a female join their ranks." Artemis didn't deny that she and the other two girls on the team were considerably talkative and slightly unprofessional.

"In what army?"

"The strong and silent ones." Although she was similar in strength and height to Wally, her abilities in martial arts made her just as equipped for hero work. Wally and Artemis glanced over at the girl who was giving the current punching bag a not-quite-death-glare, something like calm determination, while still looking a little scary.

And she had been nearly silent the entire time.

She glanced over at Wally and Artemis, pausing for a few seconds, then began giggling quietly to herself. Wally and Artemis exchanged bewildered looks, completely lost on Amber.

"Maybe not as silent..." Wally muttered.

Amber was making her way over to her water bottle, which happened to be conveniently placed right in between the two other teens. The two hurriedly separated, staring at the girl, who only laughed harder.

She took a drink and then sighed to herself, "This is what I get for being new." This statement was meant to be heard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wally questioned.

"You two were attempting to make a hypothesis on what exactly my abilities and personality traits are."

"Um... yeah." Artemis confirmed, deciding it was best to just own up, exchanging another look with Wally.

Amber grinned. "Mind translating is one of my talents. Do either of you want to spar?"

...

_Two weeks! Two freaking weeks! _And Dick had yet to wrap his head around her.

For one thing, she didn't have any type of social networking profile whatsoever.

Nothing.

So while he had access to just about every legal detail in her life, including where she went to school and how much money was in her savings account, but he had no idea what her favorite color was or what movies she liked to watch or if she could swim.

And that could seriously tell you a lot about someone. Bank accounts, not so much.

...

Amber's routine had settled in nicely. Two weeks and the team had finally seemed comfortable with not pulling their punches around her.

It might have been longer until they got used to her, but her calm, quirky, and humorous nature meant she could nudge them into being more aggressive.

Sometimes, if she knew that they were going too easy on her, she would sit down cross legged on the training floor in the middle of a spar and quirk an eyebrow at them.

The first time it happened, she was doing a quick spar with Superboy, about four days into her training.

She just collapsed her legs and was suddenly sitting on the floor, indian style.

Conner stopped dead in his tracks and stared. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" She asked. "You aren't trying, so I'm not trying. I'm just leveling the playing field."

"I just thought..." he trailed off, clearly at a loss for words. "Are you going to get off the floor?"

"Are you going to try to win here?"

"I guess..."

"Good!" She jumped up and assumed a fighting stance. When she saw that he wasn't going to move first, she stepped to his side and delivered a kick to the back of his knee. While it would seriously hurt most people, it only served to throw him off balance; and Amber took that opportunity to sweep his legs out from under him, walking off as Fail: Superboy flashed on the floor.

"And that," She announced, "is why you never, _ever_, underestimate someone."

Connor could've sworn he heard Robin laughing.

...

It was a little unexpected. The team was doing a little 'bonding' in front of the TV. The TV was on the static channel, Connor having been the one to turn it on. Kaldur had come in with a book and started reading. Robin and Zatanna walked in, deep in conversation. They paid no mind to Connor or Kaldur, just sat next to each other on the couch. Amber glanced over from across the room.

It was her habit to distance herself a little from people at times and just watch them interact. She noticed that Robin and Zatanna sat just a _little _closer than they needed to have a private conversation. She also saw Kaldur give a small smile and Connor roll his eyes in annoyance that the quiet was broken. In that moment, M'gann gave a little shriek from the kitchen. Everyone in the room glanced in her direction.

"Just popcorn that popped after I took it out of the microwave! Sorry!" Amber wandered into the kitchen to help M'gann clean up. She got a bowl and M'gann dumped the contents of the bag into it. "Who wants popcorn?" She called cheerfully, placing the bowl on the coffee table and snuggling up next to Connor, who wrapped his arms around her, not taking his eyes off of the TV screen. Wolf came padding in, ever curious about the new human; Roy hot on his heels.

"If you see Wally and Artemis, _run._" he deadpanned.

"What?"

Zatanna barely had time to ask when Wally raced in with a green bow, yelled "Safe!" and proceeded to hide behind Roy as the eighteen year old tried desperately to get out of the way.

Too late.

Artemis stormed in, brandishing an arrow. "You. Are. _Dead, _Baywatch."

"Dude! What did you do this time?" Robin's voice was wrought with mirth.

"I took her arrow."

"He took my arrow, and _then, _when I went to get it back, he swapped it out with my bow!"

"At which point you began to chase him around with said arrow, both of you managing to terrorize Wolf and Roy in the process." Amber finished their explanation, sitting down cross legged on the floor, helping herself to popcorn. "You could sit down and stay awhile."

Wally and Artemis exchanged glances. Artemis shrugged, and both teens sat down on the couch, Wally grabbing the bowl in the process.

"Wally!" M'gann protested, indignant.

"What?" his response was somewhat muffled.

"Get your own, Baywatch. The rest of us like to eat too, you know."

Amber rolled her eyes, thinking, _those two... _"I'll do it." she volunteered, noting how everyone else seemed comfortable. Roy followed her.

When she reached the kitchen, she turned to face Roy "You know, if you wanted anything, you could've asked."

"I don't want anything. I'm just warning you. I know you can't be the mole, but if you _ever_ do _anything_ to hurt my friends..."

"You have my word, but you needn't worry. My powers make it emotionally impossible to hurt people like that."

"Oh."

"Besides, if any of them are the mole, they probably don't _know_ they are. They're too comfortable with each other and trust each other too much. So stop being hostile, that doesn't do anyone a thing."

"I'm just trying to protect my _family!_" Roy snapped.

"I get it. I may not have been orphaned or had a tragic past or live in poverty or have some other depressing life story, but I don't live under a rock. I understand people easily, and I understand what you're trying to do. Don't worry about me. I'm just here for safety reasons."

"I- sorry?" Roy was slightly confused that Amber was not at all bothered by his hostility.

"Go spend time with your family, then. I'll finish up here."

"Dude... you didn't give her that 'talk', did you?" Wally wondered why he even bothered asking. Of course he had.

"Yeah, but she seemed okay with it. I... approve of her."

"As do we all. She has already proved herself to be of a good heart and mind."

"Yeah, and she has _Batman's _approval. If she didn't, she probably wouldn't be here. She's like the only kid here who _doesn't _have a mentor, yeah, but that's why she's here."

"Guys!" Roy half moaned, collapsing on a chair and hiding his face in his hands. "I get it. I didn't have to threaten her."

"You know, I can hear you guys from the kitchen." Amber called, as if casually pointing out an interesting fact. "Roy didn't do anything wrong. He was just being protective of you guys. I don't take offense to that." She walked in, placing the popcorn on the coffee table, and collapsed her legs so she was sitting on the floor, her back to the TV so that she managed to face everyone else.

Wolf came over, very cautiously, to her, glancing at Conner as if asking if it was okay.

"Wolf shouldn't hurt you, but if you don't like dogs, I can call him off."

"It's fine." She assured him. "I like dogs."

"Or wolves." She added as an afterthought.

She held out a hand towards Wolf, slowly showing him her palm, then igniting a faint, dark gold glow within it.

"Hey." She murmured softly, letting him approach. She kept her hand held out to him, waiting as he made his way forward.

Wolf inspected Amber, as she showed him wordlessly who she was and what her powers were.

"Why are you doing that?" Conner asked. "Is he hurt?"

Without taking her eyes off the canine, she replied, "I'm showing him all of who I am." The glow flickered out as Amber reached to scratch Wolf behind the ears. "I think he's okay with me."

"Yeah, he likes you." Connor confirmed. "He doesn't take this well to most humans."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She grinned wryly. "I like him."

A companionable, albeit slightly awkward quiet settled over them; Amber still stroking Wolf.

Out of the blue, Amber wondered aloud, "Who would you die for?"

Nothing short of alarms announcing the end of the world would have turned the teens' attention from the unassuming fourteen-year old girl. Granted, one that had just voiced one of the most troubling questions to ever be on a hero's mind.

Wally swallowed hard, as if just remembering that he had food in his mouth. "Where the hell did _that _come from?"

She shrugged. "Just wondering. For me it's not a question of _for whom, _but _by whom _and _when_. I'm not afraid of dying, and my life isn't worth saving in most cases anyway. I'm not suicidal, though. It would be stupid to kill myself."

Amber was one of those people who was mysteriously wise, but didn't seem to care. That gave her words a magnetic quality, drawing the attention of those around her.

Roy snorted. "How are you supposed to answer that kind of question? I don't even know who I can trust anymore."

"You have to answer it out loud. But it _is_ something you should know about yourself."

Kaldur's book flipped shut.

Robin and Zatanna's conversation lapsed into a gentle hush.

Wally placed the half-empty bowl of popcorn down with a small sigh.

Roy actually reclined on his chair.

And other little things like the shift in all of their faces; told Amber that they were all currently facing their own mortality.

Lesson learned.


	6. Visions

**I do not own Young Justice. I need costume and superhero name ideas for my character. If you have any, enter in the comments below.**

**This is now taking place during Performance. **

**...**

Empathy

Amber didn't mind being an only child. She didn't _not _want siblings, she just didn't mind being the sole child in her family.

It also seemed like that with one child, protectiveness was concentrated on you.

So when her parents decided to go on a second honeymoon, she was a little surprised, to say the least.

"Really? Tired of me after only fourteen years? I thought you were only supposed to get tired of kids after they came home from college."  
>"Don't worry, you're still our baby!" her mom informed her in a teasing tone.<p>

"_MOM!_" Amber moaned. "Wait, how long will you be gone?"

"A week."

"So... where am I going to be staying?"

"Actually, that's what we wanted to talk to you about." her dad put in.

"...Okay?"

"What are the chances of you being able to stay at the mountain for Christmas?"

...

_So here I am. _Batman had agreed without hesitation, which her parents had not expected. Amber had. She knew that Batman was completely, utterly dedicated to everything he did. Protection of his charges was just one of those many things.

So now she carried her navy duffel bag and black backpack. (which she brought to the cave on a daily basis anyway)

She glanced around, finding the place rather empty, especially for a wednesday afternoon during most of the team's winter break. There _was _the possibility that they had gone to the mall without her, she wasn't supposed to be here for another half-hour, and wasn't one for shopping anyway.

"Hello?" Her voice echoing a little as it bounced off the stony ceiling.

"Oh! You're here!" Zatanna ran out in casual clothing, sounding surprised but not unhappy.

"Yep." Amber shrugged. "Where's everyone else?" She asked, noting that Zatanna and Wolf seemed to be the only ones nearby.

"Well, Wally's not here yet, Aqualad went swimming, and everyone else went on a mission that I'm not allowed to know about."

"I'm guessing he went swimming in the ocean?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Educated guess." She shrugged again.

"Most sane people would stay out of the water in December, but he _is _Aqualad."

"Do you know where I'm sleeping? I'd like to drop off my stuff so it's out of the way."

"Sure. This way." Zatanna guided her down the hallway to the bedrooms, where Amber had never been. "This part wasn't on the tour Robin and Wally gave you because they're private quarters. No need for you to really know what's in them, and I doubt anyone really wants to display their rooms anyway."

"For Privacy?" Humor creeped into her voice.

"Yeah." Zatanna grinned; not only for politeness but general amusement. "And here we are."

She gestured to a door, much like the others in the hallway.

Inside it had been furnished similarly to a hotel room, simple and generic, but nice. It was actually a bit bigger than her room at home. There was even a TV-looking device, which Amber found to be a bit overkill, but was nonetheless appreciated. The full-size bed was covered with a standard-looking darker grey comforter, two white pillows at the head. She noticed the dresser nearby, and began unpacking her duffel bag.

"Uhh... You don't have to stay." Amber pointed out, when she realized that Zatanna wasn't planning on leaving while she unpacked. "I don't really need any help or anything."

"No, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after you were done. I don't have anything else to do."

"Sure." Sliding the last of her belongings in a drawer, she hopped up, following Zatanna to the living room. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, I was going to let you decide."

"I'm up for anything. If you want though, we could make dinner for the others."

"I'd like to do that. With my dad well, you know, in the helmet, I haven't really cooked dinner for anyone in a while." A sad, wistful smile graced her face, one that was forcefully repressed in front of her guest.

Her reaction to the suggestion was not lost on Amber. "Hey, I know this is awkward, but it seems like you're still really missing your dad; so if you want to cry, or talk, or whatever, ...I'm here."

"Okay. Thanks." Zatanna muttered, glancing at the floor.

Deciding that a distraction was what Zatanna wanted or needed most right now, Amber asked, "So what do you want to make?"

...

Never, never, never, never, had it _ever_ been this bad. Her mind hadn't even begun to process anything but the _pain_. Pain that she couldn't stop, because it was already happening. Pain that she didn't feel but did feel at the same time.

Then, a liquid shield that had frozen and shattered into a million pieces.

Red light.

No, eyes.

And then the who.

"_Kaldur'ahm." _

And her voice dissipated as a whisper, leaving cold certainty. Oh god, it _hurt. _

And nothing could stop her from crying. The kind of crying that was silent and trembling, hot tears tracing down her cheeks, wanting to scream but not being able to.

And when her tears subsided, she pushed it off and rolled out of bed, glancing at the clock.

5:30 in the morning. That was an acceptable time to be awake. She quickly got dressed and raced out the door onto the grass, towards the beach; wincing as the computer called out her name and designation, a little louder than it needed to be.

She ran down to the beach, relishing in the challenge of running over sand with her thin-soled shoes threatening to slide her feet neatly out from under her. The gray winter's morning was punctuated by harsh, salty gusts of wind whipping at her face and hair. She was trying to run from her dream, and while she was getting far away from the mountain, she couldn't run away from the... nightmare?

Or whatever the hell it was. She made an amused sound. Hell would be a good word for whoever it was that had been strangling Aqualad in her dream.

Distracted, she slipped forward, going down on her hands and knees.

Panting slightly, she let herself relax into the cool grains of sand. If only she could become a grain of sand, to be an insignificant part of the whole. Humans don't really get the luxury of being mindless.

"Are you alright?"

"Hm?" Amber blinked momentarily at the ground, confused. Then she came to her senses and rolled to her feet, brushing sand off her clothes, coming face-to-face with Kaldur. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I was running and I fell."

"I saw that. I was concerned when you didn't get back up."

Amber almost laughed, seeing as it was the first time she had heard a joke out of Kaldur; before realizing that it wasn't a joke, he was dead serious.

Sometimes it was so hard to forget that the teenagers that she trained with were more than teenagers, they suffered through just as much pain and death as she did. She knew how it felt to see people fall, and not be able to get up.

She sighed a little, now feeling the coldness of the winter air that hung with promise of snow. "It's nothing. I just have a lot of things on my mind right now."

"That's understandable." He replied with a smile. Amber suddenly had the strong desire for a brother like this, someone who was willing to support her at any time.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Not biological."

"Same with me. Even _before _my friends, who were sisters, moved away, I was kind of a loner. It takes me a while before I consider someone a friend."

Kaldur nodded solemnly, listening.

"But I like you guys already." She quipped, breaking into a sprint that sent her flying back to the cave.

...

Amber had known that something was wrong when she gave an involuntary shiver and felt the familiar, tight, uneasiness rise inside of her. She began pressing her fingertips into her breastbone absentmindedly, reading the same paragraph on her book over and over without remembering any of it.

Zatanna had known that something was wrong when _Kaldur, _of all people, exited the zeta tubes allowing himself to be supported by his mentor.

Amber gave a pained yelp that degraded into a moan, and curled in on herself, wincing. Aquaman barely took notice of this, trying to guide his protegé to the medical wing. Kaldur glanced up languidly, barely conscious. The familiar dark-gold glow erupted in the palms of her hands.

It didn't appear to be _brighter _or _bigger, _per say, but Amber radiated power, her influence rippling across the room in an almost tangible way. Zatanna wasn't surprised so much as startled. It was the equivalent of someone finally revealing their face to you and having it look exactly like you've always imagined. Her eyes were more clear and intense than they had ever seen them.

Amber stepped forward, using the voice that always managed to get everyone's attention. "Aquaman, I understand that he is your protegé, but I can heal him. His internal organs sustained damage on a _cellular_ level. What happened?"

"Sonic weapon. I... wasn't close enough to do anything." Aquaman glanced down in shame and regret.

"Survivor's guilt won't help us now, especially when he's still alive. Please, let me heal him. I can feel everything, and the only other option is waiting to see if he recovers."

At an almost imperceptible nod, Amber slipped herself underneath Kaldur's arm, supporting him. Her energy seemed to refocus itself, swirling in and around Kaldur. "We need to get him to a bed so I can focus."

Another small nod.

They began walking to medical as quickly as possible, Kaldur bordering on unconsciousness, Amber's force field holding him upright without hurting him.

"I'll take top." Amber said as they approached the bed. Aquaman shifted Kaldur's lower half onto the bed. With a dancer's grace, she lowered his upper body onto the bed without pinning herself. Instead of letting go of his arms, though, she slid her hands down and gripped his wrists firmly but gently.

"If anyone comes, tell them I'm in here. This could take up to three hours for me to do. I'm not going to be very responsive during the process, and don't let anyone to break my concentration, then it will only take longer. Got it?"

"Got it." Zatanna said. "I have healing spells, but none of them could fix _this_. You're our best option."

"Okay." Ignoring Aquaman, who was in the process of hooking Kaldur up to a monitor, Amber locked her knees and steeled herself, then closed her eyes, focusing on the damage done, repairing it cell by cell; although she had to encourage his body to completely replace a good amount of tissue.

About three-quarters of the way through, Kaldur came to. He said something, but Amber didn't understand anything except the confusion and worry in his voice. He tried to worm his way out of her grasp, and all Amber could do was tighten her grip a little and hope he got the message.

Then Aquaman said something, it sounded like he was explaining the situation. Zatanna jumped in soon after. When they were stopped talking, Kal gripped Amber's wrists as a sign of friendship, support, and understanding.

Then Amber heard Wally's voice, asking a question. Then Batman and Black Canary said something. Someone put a bracelet-like thing on her, she guessed a heart and blood pressure monitor.

_Shoot. Not now. _Amber was beginning to slip as the situation became less dire. _I want to finish this._ She allowed herself to feel the painful, throbbing ache that was his entire body. She delved back in.

...

She resurfaced when he was completely healthy, if a little tired.

She let go of Kaldur's arms, and he did the same.

Amber gave a sharp intake of breath as her legs gave out, staggering backwards a step before colliding into the Kevlar padding on Batman's costume with a slightly muffled _thump. _He grabbed her before she could collapse onto the floor. "Sorry," she muttered, cheeks flushing bright red with embarrassment.

"Worry about it later. Can you stand?"

As much as she wanted to be able to, she knew enough about herself to know that she had run herself into the ground. "No." she muttered, blushing even more.

He sat her down in a chair. "Then stay there. Do what you need to in order to stay awake, understood? Keep talking to everyone."

"What am I supposed to be talking about? And to who, exactly?" Her questions are ignored by Batman, who has slipped out of the room with Black Canary. She studied Wally, Zatanna, and Kaldur for a moment. "You guys?" she asked. "How long was I out of it? Best I can figure is a couple of hours."

Zatanna gave her an incredulous look. "All of thirty-two minutes. Why?"

"_What?_" Amber's brow furrowed. "How was that _possible? _It should have taken much longer to fully heal him. And I _know _he's fully healed."

"I can vouch for that." Kaldur swung his legs around and stood up, feeling perfectly fine. "Thank you, Amber."

Amber laughed. "Don't worry about it. But you should eat something soon. I sort of drew on your own energy a little. Sorry."

Aquaman joined the conversation. "I don't know how I can repay you for the life of my charge. I don't know what I would have done, had he died. I could never forgive myself."

"You don't need to repay me." Amber waved him off. "I only did what any good friend would do."

"Hold on a second." Wally said. "How did you 'draw on his energy', exactly?"

"Not in a way that could be evil." Amber said. "It's complicated, but I basically was making his body heal, and that requires energy. I really prefer to use my own energy, but towards the end, his magic... 'reacted' is the best word for it- with mine, and helped me along."

"Actually, I did that on purpose."

"Um...Why?" She paused. "Never mind. I get it."

"So...you're like this because you just used all the energy required to do the reverse of a sonic blast." Wally clarified.

"Not quite, he helped, but yes."

"Well, that would explain why you can't walk." He mused.

She dropped her head comically. "Don't rub it in."

"Don't rub what in?" Black Canary strolled in.

"I can't hold myself up."

"This should help." Batman handed her a bottle that looked something like a sports drink.

"Those are for speedsters!" Wally was indignant.

"They were designed for the speedsters." Kaldur pointed out. "Anyone who needs an energy boost could drink it, really."

Amber eyed the drink suspiciously. "How hyper is it going to make me?"

"It won't, as long as you're _using _the energy. Which you obviously need." Wally considered.

She accepted the bottle with shaky hands, drinking slowly. She figured it would take a few minutes before anything happened. "I'm still shocked that it only took a little over a half hour for me to heal him."

"How long did you think it was going to take?" Wally asked.

"At least a couple of hours. It _felt _like four." Amber yawned, unable to fight her exhaustion. She wondered if she could speed that time up. "Oh, I'm going to be up late tomorrow."

"Just finish." Batman said. "Another fifteen minutes, and you probably would have been in a coma. You'll need time to recover."

Amber turned and looked at the monitor. Slightly faster heartbeat, very low blood pressure. Bad sign. "Okay. I tend to recover quickly, though." she made to stand up, but as soon as she was upright, her vision blacked out and her legs threatened to deposit her on the tile floor. She quickly sat back down, head swimming. Sighing, she lowered her head to her knees in an attempt to get blood flowing to her brain. "Just _great._ I can't stand up."

"This would be a lot less awkward if we had telekinesis." Zatanna said with a lopsided smile

"I think it's going to going to be awkward, period." Amber glanced up. "How am I supposed to get to a bed?"

"You aren't going to your room, you're staying here for overnight observation." Black Canary told her firmly.

Her eyes glinted with mischief. "In the chair?"

"In the bed." Black Canary rolled her eyes. "Up you go. Kal, help me out here."

"What-" Amber was cut off as she was hauled up, someone on either side of her, and deposited on a new bed. "Oh. Well this is role reversal."

"Night!" Wally called, and sauntered out. The others followed soon after, Kaldur with one last thank-you.

Amber thought about taking her shoes off, but now that she was lying down, she felt her consciousness begin to slip. _I'll get them later, _she decided. _I doubt I would get them off anyway._

...

Amber woke at 3:00 am on Friday. She immediately needed to go to the bathroom. Noticing that her sneakers had been kicked off at some point, she took off her socks for good measure and padded silently to the nearest bathroom. After showering and getting dressed, silently thanking the design of the cave in the process (the medical wing was separated from the rest of the bedrooms), she made her way back to the room she had been given for the week. She passed by Kaldur, in the pool, who appeared to be sleeping. Since he was Atlantean, she wasn't concerned, but she was aware that he had a bedroom of his own.

_Nightmares, probably, _she thought to herself.

Echoes of her nighttime visions ghosted across her mind. Were those _his? _


	7. Flames

**Okay, I know you're all shocked, you've probably given up on this story, but here it is! Another chapter.**

**I have been writing like ten things, and to be honest, I was really stuck on this transition point. I hope you followers forgive me.**

**I do not own Young Justice.**

...

Empathy

"You're up." Batman said.

"How long was I out?" Amber asked, walking into the training room.

"Just a day." Zatanna said. "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

"Yeah. What was I saying?"

"Something about nightmares."

"Umm... I'm not surprised, but why were you watching me sleep?"

"_Recognized, Kid Flash, B03."_

"Hey, you're awake. How the hell did you speak Atlantean?"

"God! Were you all just sitting around my bed, seeing if I woke up?"

"Uh, I guess." Wally shrugged. "Hey, it wasn't like we had anything better to do."

"We were all worried about you, Amber." Kaldur told her gently. "Even him." At that, he allowed a small smile, nodding to Wally, who had his hands in his pockets, looking somewhat distracted.

"I guess, but I'm more worried about A-" his eyes widened, and he quickly shut up.

Amber grinned, knowing who he was talking about. She'd overheard Robin's constant teasing of Wally, as well as and Zatanna's and M'gann's wheedling of Artemis. It was pretty obvious that Wally had a thing for Artemis. And vice versa.

Feeling slightly miffed at everyone watching her lying prone for an entire day, Amber ribbed Wally a little. "You were worried about _blank. _Don't worry; I'm sure _she _can take care of herself."

"I-" His gaze flickered around the room like it had suddenly run out of air. "When do you think they'll be back?"

"Whenever the mission is completed." Aqualad said, stepping up to leader mode, managing to look stoic.

"They won't be long" Bruce told them. "Christmas, at the latest."

...

Around nine p.m. Friday night, Artemis, Robin, Conner, M'gann, and Roy arrived at the cave for a 'debriefing'; looking tired, but relaxed and content. They were buffeted by the enticing smell of warm chocolate-chip cookies and the sound of relaxed conversation. Pretty much ignoring what they had officially come to the cave for, they made their way towards the kitchen, intent on getting to cookies.

"No debriefing?" Wally asked.

"This is it." Robin flashed Wally a grin. "We debriefed on the bioship."

"How'd it go?"

"Good, actually. Took a little longer then we'd hoped, but it turned out okay in the end. For one thing, the archers _finally_ displayed respect for each other. For another, we caught the bad guy."

"So... Merry Christmas?"

"Yeah. Did you want to talk to Artemis? You'll need to catch her before she goes home."

"Dude, will you let that go? I said that I'd talk to her!" Wally muttered. "It's bad enough that Amber was filling in for you while you were away!"

"You _said _that you'd talk to her by New Years! You have eight days left." Robin's features configured themselves into a devious smirk. "Time's a tickin'."

"I don't _know_." Wally mumbled for about the thousandth time. "What the hell am I supposed to say?"

"Your family is having Christmas dinner, right?"

"What kind of question is that? We _always_ have Christmas dinner."

"You _could _invite her over."

"What if she already has plans?"

"She doesn't. I asked."

"What if she doesn't celebrate Christmas?"

"Chances are, she does. You'll never know if you don't ask."

"I can't just randomly invite her over for dinner! My parents would freak!"

"_Dude,_ your family is huge and has three people with hyper-metabolisms. One _normal_ person is not going to give anyone a hard time."

"That's not my point! What if-"

"Come _on, _KF, she's not going to bite your head off, your family will welcome her with open arms, and if _you _don't do anything about it, _I _will."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Robin drawled. "I was thinking about putting the cave on lockdown until you two worked out your differences. I'd be watching the security cameras, of course."

Wally paled, gaping wide-eyed at his friend. "You wouldn't."

"Or, I could simply go and tell the team. I'm sure they have some good ideas."

"Can't you just let me figure this out for myself? I'll tell her when I'm ready."

"As a good friend, I'm going to push you to get on with it."

"There's a thousand ways I could screw something up."

"It's good that you know that."

"How is having a thousand ways to screw up a good thing?"

"Because then you _try._ I remember when I was younger, I was afraid to do _anything_ as Robin. I was scared that I'd end up causing problems for Batman, that I'd screw up and he'd have to save me, or worse, I couldn't save him.

When you save lives more than once, it doesn't become less of a deal."

"You just kind of learned to be brave?" Wally surmised.

"I guess, but that's beside my point. Being afraid means that you _do _care."

"But that doesn't change the fact that I'm probably going to screw this up." Wally refused to be mollified. "She's probably going to punch me in the face and never talk to me again."

"What if she feels the same way?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's certain about punching me in the face, too."

"Come _on._ Just ask. Look, there she is now." Raising his voice, he called, "Hey, Artemis!"

Artemis turned, dressed in street clothes, hair damp from a shower. "Yeah?"

"_Dude,_" Wally hissed, on the verge of panicking, "What do you think you're doing?"

Robin studiously ignored Wally's protests and addressed Artemis. "Wally, here, was saying that he might invite you over to his house for Christmas dinner, if you weren't planning on doing anything."

"Um..." Artemis balked, the faintest tinge of a blush staining her cheeks.

Wally scrambled to explain. "Well you see, I was thinking about maybe asking you-" he paused, took a deep breath, and continued. "-to maybe come over to my house on Christmas eve, because, well, I'm sorry for those times I yelled at you, and we're on the same team, and I mean, I _think _we were kind of friends before, but if we aren't, you can say so, and can you tell me now, so I can stop talking and get out of your way, and... I'm gonna shut up so you can actually answer."

Artemis laughed in spite of herself. "Wally, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me."

Wally was stunned, but quickly regained some of his composure. "Okay, but I was taught to just apologize when someone's feelings had been hurt, and I kind of figured that this was long overdue."

"Wally West," Artemis groused, "you didn't do anything to me that hasn't been done before. I'll live."

...

Robin had already left the room and was showing the security footage to M'gann, Zatanna, and Conner.

"They'll thank me later." He decided. "If they don't decide to kill me first."

Conner clapped him on the shoulder (carefully). "Well, we're thanking you now."

Zatanna moved closer to the image and studied it for a few seconds. With a grin spreading across her face, she announced, "I'll have to second that. I've never seen her look at a guy like that."

"She looked at Connor 'like that' almost as soon as she joined the team." M'gann pointed out.

Robin shrugged. "I _guess_, but I don't think that she ever felt much attraction." He cackled. "Come to think of it, she was acting like _Wally._ Do you remember how he flirted with M'gann?"

M'gann rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me."

"And that's why," Zatanna concluded with a devilish smirk, "he needs a strong character like Artemis to keep him in line."

They all laughed at that.

...

"So... does that mean no?" Wally made eye contact, but quickly dropped his gaze, preparing himself for rejection.

"No," Artemis finally concluded.

Wally decided he would have felt much better if a hole had suddenly opened up and swallowed him whole.

Gathering her courage, Artemis clarified, "I never said I _wouldn't_ go, Baywatch."

"Which is it?" Wally began bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"I'll come. My family never really celebrated Christmas. It isn't like I'd be doing anything anyway." Her heart did a little flip-flop dance in her chest, unbidden.

A part of her was proud that she had managed to reject another piece of her upbringing.

"Really?"

"I just said I would." Artemis retorted bemusedly.

Wally grinned. "Just checking. Is it okay if I meet you at the Star City Zeta tubes at five thirty tomorrow?"

"That's fine."

"Just wear normal clothes."

"I was going to."

"Uh... see you tomorrow, then." Wally rubbed the back of his neck.

Artemis continued on her way to the zeta tubes. "Bye."

She pretended that she didn't hear Wally's whisper-shout of "_Yes!_"

...

Amber was hanging upside down on the couch and humming, much to the chagrin of Connor. After about twenty minutes of attempting to remember what the tune was called, he suddenly realized (with some irritation) that he had started humming as well. "Do you mind?"

Amber laughed to herself. "Sorry." The humming ceased.

Zatanna walked in. "Did you hear about Wally and Artemis?"

"No," Amber admitted, swinging off the couch. "But I bet I'm going to find out."

"Our resident hacker recorded it. He claims that he's going to play it for them on their wedding day."

Amber kicked at the ground, uncomfortable. "Isn't that just a _possibility _at this point? They haven't even started dating yet, right? You can't just call it destiny right now."

"You have to admit, they do have a thing for each other."

"Yeah. That doesn't mean that it's going to last, though. They could hate each other in the future, couldn't they?"

"I seriously doubt it. Besides, you think too much about the future. Sometimes it's just better to assume. Why so grim?"

"Grim?"

"Yeah, grim. You're kinda pessimistic."

"I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. There's a difference."

Zatanna laughed good-naturedly. "Let's just go see the video."

...

Wally paced in his room for the thousandth time, nerves run down to the wire. He'd invited Artemis over to his house for _Christmas, _and he didn't have a single idea for what to get her.

Once (in a time of weakness, mind you), he would debate just not giving her a present, because he didn't want to mess up if he _did _give her a gift. That thought was quickly struck down; because Artemis deserved to really _celebrate _Christmas, and that included having a big dinner with a few extra desserts, having fun (preferably with at least ten people), and of course, getting at least a few presents.

With a sigh, Wally flopped on his bed. He pulled his goggles out and started fiddling with them, idly wondering if he could change the input on the infrared vision setting to give individual objects more definition.

Tossing his goggles in the air, and watching how they rotated lazily before coming down back into his hands, Wally was struck with inspiration.

"That's it!" he cried triumphantly, practically dancing out of his room.

...

"_Recognized, Kid Flash, B03."_

Wally started sprinting almost before he had materialized, giving him a strange sense of lag. He did a front handspring down just for the heck of it, knowing he looked completely goofy and not really caring.

He stopped dead when he saw Zatanna, Robin, and Amber huddled in a tight circle outside the souvenir room, looking at something that was obscured from his view. Robin was the first to withdraw from the group, the two girls following suit.

"You just left half an hour ago." A statement of fact, spoken wryly by the newest cave goer.

"Yeah, but there's something I need." Wally waved Amber off, doing his best to ignore the smirks that he knew were there.

"I thought souvenirs were supposed to stay here." Amber countered.

"It's not a souvenir I need." Wally turned down the hall, suddenly serious. "Rob, I need a favor."

Robin flashed a knowing smile at Zatanna and Amber, before ambling down the hallway after Wally.

Robin tailed Wally to the boy's locker room.

"So, are you going to tell me what you need my help with?"

"Yeah, look, I need one of Artemis's arrows." Wally muttered. "I have an idea, but it can't work unless I can work off of one of her arrows."

"You're making her arrows?"

Wally sighed. "Yeah, but dude, you can't tell anybody. It's her Christmas present."

"No problem." Robin reassured him. "I'll set you up in two minutes."

"Thanks Rob, I owe you one." Wally said, turning on his heel.

"You probably owe me like twenty, but it's no trouble."

"Come on man, what am I gonna give a kid who has everything he could possibly ask for?"

"The phone number to that awesome pizza place near your house. An all-night video game marathon at your place with a few of the previously mentioned pizzas. Bragging rights once I pound you into the ground."

"We both know that you aren't going to win that easy."

"Day after Christmas, then?"

"Deal." Wally paused. "Is um, Bats... you know... gonna be okay?"

"Don't worry about him. A and I are going to make sure he doesn't brood for too long."

"Because he does that all the time."

Robin shook his head. "That's just him being Batman. If he really gets to brooding, there's ways to pull him out of it. I'll get that arrow for you."

Robin strolled out of the locker room. Wally waited, unsure of what to do. Just when he was about to walk out the door and track Robin down, the boy wonder walked in and slapped not one, but two arrows into Wally's hands.

"Thanks, Rob. I mean it." Wally said, completely beholden, already analyzing the tips of the arrows.

"You could have just walked into the equipment room and gotten them yourself, you know."


End file.
